Onions and Cakes
by Alba Aulbath
Summary: When the League grew in size after the Thanagar invasion, the Flash took a temporary leave. Which might prove to be a mistake if the Question has anything to say about it.
1. In Which a Martian Disappears

**Disclaimers and Useless/Useful Stuff to Know:**  
Don't own Justice League. Never will. WB and DC got dibs that I don't. Takes place around the first season of JLU. Written to kind of expand on just how Flash felt lost in the shuffle of things in the Justice League, and get J'onn out of the Watchtower for Pete's sake.

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**Onions and Cakes**

by Alba Aulbath

* * *

Keeping the organization of the Justice League nowadays was a difficult task, one that most wouldn't want to even consider doing. Continuously throughout the day, the Earth was in peril and in need of heroes, and in turn the heroes were in need of organization, and in that retrospect someone needed to stay in the Watchtower at all times to watch over these hundreds of people, and be sure that they were well kept.

J'onn J'onzz was that man - or Martian, rather. All in the eye of the beholder, regardless.

Since the reorganization post-Thanagarian invasion, it had been weary to watch over and keep tabs on all of these heroes. Never much of a break, honestly, but one would have be crazy to hear the Martian Manhunter give complaint. If he did, it was well hidden, and he could hardly even express a smile much less a frown.

So it had been around 3:32 PM EST - being in space constantly, it was difficult to take heed of which time frame to use - that a particular Amazon princess had approached the psychic.

"You're tired," was her comment, which he knew before she had to say. It didn't take a mindreader to know that.

J'onn merely nodded as he glanced over the monitors wearily.

"And worried."

That was true. But there were many things to be concerned about. Diana was going to have to pick a concern.

"It's about Flash."

The Martian almost scowled. "Yes?"

"Ever since we rebuilt, he's been away from the Justice League."

"That is his personal right."

Wonder Woman couldn't argue with that. "But you're still concerned about him, J'onn."

"Yes." J'onn finally looked at her from his former focus on the screens. "As are you. As all of us are."

Shaking her head, she gestured towards the blue planet outside the window. "Don't you at least want to check on him?"

"I have."

Diana smiled wryly. "Not like that."

He wasn't liking what she was suggesting. "I cannot possibly leave my position."

"Flash did."

"That is different," J'onn sighed.

The princess scowled, folding her arms. "How is it different? He has a right to take leave temporarily, and so should you. You work harder than any of us, and that's without ever leaving the tower. J'onn, don't you want to see him?"

"Why do you insist that I, in particular, go see him?"

Explaining herself, apparently, had not been her plan. Her eyebrows rose, than she closed her eyes briefly to gather herself mentally. "Everyone has their own way of checking on him. Batman has his contacts, Superman flies over Central City to listen for him and spot him, Lantern checks with his aunt..."

"And you?"

"I've spoken with him over his communicator."

"You have yet to answer my question. I don't see why you haven't checked on him yourself, personally." J'onn could certainly read her mind to find out, but he had his morals.

"J'onn, there's a reason that we're not aware of that explains why he's been staying away from us for so long. I'll admit, I think all of us are a little afraid to find out why. But if there's anyone who should contact him, I think it's you right now. John can't make time for him; he hasn't been exactly the same since Hawkgirl." Diana didn't hide her frown of disapproval of the Thanagarian. "Batman isn't personal with anyone, understandably. Look, what I mean is... it'd do both of you some good. Flash will listen to you and talk to you." Who wouldn't, really, in the Amazon's opinion; J'onn was by far the oldest of any of them, and difficult to deny. "And honestly, you should leave the Watchtower for just a day."

"I cannot accept that." J'onn shook his head at her. While he honestly had been worried from Flash's train of thoughts, he couldn't even consider leaving the Justice League for even a day.

"You overwork yourself, and you need a day without worrying about us. J'onn, we'll be fine. Superman and I can take over for now. It'll only be for a day," Diana assured. "Go to Earth or I'll throw you down there." She smiled at him extra sweetly, and with some humor.

Just one day. J'onn considered this; true, he could use a day to gather himself, and simply be able to not have to worry about keeping the League together and who to teleport where at what time and place and who was going with who to wear to take care of what. And maybe Wally could use a friendly face.

"One day," J'onn told her calmly. "In twenty-four hours, I will return."

Smiling widely, Diana approved.

* * *

"He's looking fine these days we talk longer, but you know, I still miss him... and I'm sure you do, too." There was a pause. "Wally?"

The red-headed speedster eyed at the calender, tapping his fingers on the table. Adjusting the phone to his ear, he smiled faintly. "Sorry, Aunt Iris," he apologized for the lack of response. "Just kind of... you know, daydreamining."

In Central City, was the Flash; and in turn, there was also Wally West, who had been resting in his apartment. Mind and body both weary, and it hadn't changed much since Hawkgirl left the Justice League and the Thanagarians left Earth. There were a lot of considerations he was taking, and to an extent, he felt a little forgotten about in the mix of things. Not surprising.

She sighed. "Wally, I've been worried. I know you're upset - the date's coming up and all - but you've never seemed this depressed before."

"Not depressed," Wally denied. "And it's not just about that, Aunt Iris, really. Well... you know, part of it, but really, I guess I kinda feel lost in the whole mess of things. I look at the League, and wonder if they really need me, you know? They seem to be doing just fine. Maybe I should just worried about Central City, or be a part-timer like Batman."

"Wally, you're too worried. You do a wonderful job, and people really do look up to you."

"Not as much as they do Supes or Diana. Guess it's kinda hard to beat being invulnerable, super strong, laser vision, and whatever else." He shook his head. "Nah, I'm not saying I'm quitting. Just wondering about my place of things in the League right now. You'd have to cut off my legs before I'd stop running."

"Your uncle would be happy to hear that," Iris assured. "Oh, I have to go! Wally, please don't worry about things. It'll fall into place. The League and the world really needs the Flash. It doesn't need you saving a million people all the time, but sometimes they just need you in other ways, I think. Take care, sweetie."

"You too, Aunt Iris." Wally hung up his phone, then let out a heavy sigh. He looked at his watch, frowning. It was about the time, his regular stop in the city. He knew he shouldn't go, but... he had to. It was a personal need.

He then stood up to grab his jacket before walking out of his apartment.

* * *

Ten hours into J'onn having gone to Earth, and Wonder Woman didn't find herself with any option but to officially Freak Out, as one might have put it.

While she had been keeping an eye on the others of the League with the psychic being gone, Diana had been sure to keep track of the Martian; the comlink provided with a tracking device on each of the League. After having sent out Plastic Man to Edge City, she had noticed the signal on J'onn was completely gone.

And so, she was completely prepared to do the Freaking Out at the moment.

Quickly, she called up someone she knew who could find him. The moment she saw the dark cowl on the screen, Diana let out a relieved sigh she could contact him. "Batman!"

"This isn't a good time."

Wonder Woman frowned faintly. "When is it ever a good time?" Shaking her head, she continued with, "No, I need you to find J'onn."

"...Where did he go?"

"I had him leave the Tower so he could go and see Flash. I was worried about both of them - but his signal just vanished. Batman, you can-"

"No, I can't," the Dark Knight responded sharply. "You have plenty of help up there, Diana. Right now, I have Gotham to take care of."

While the motto was typically "for the greater good," this was not something that Wonder Woman was capable of understanding. She scowled and stood up to place a warrior's glare onto the Batman, her fingers clenching into a tight fist. "J'onn needs you right now! I can't believe you-"

"I'm not the only person in the League who's capable of tracking down a Martian who's been potentially captured. Just how many detectives do we have in the Watchtower?" Batman rose a brow behind his mask, though it was quite visible to the Amazon. "Believe it or not, they're capable as I am, Diana. Use your teammates."

In spite of the fact that it was Batman, of all people, telling Wonder Woman to remember she had others she could count on, she did reluctantly sigh. "What's got you so busy, anyway?"

"Arkham breakout. Firefly. Go find someone, Diana. Batman, out." Without another word, Batman closed the connection.

Wonder Woman paused to herself, then sighed.

She went to see who was available.

* * *

Stepping down from the Central City police station was a blonde man; tall and wore glasses, perfectly calm and friendly. He was going to step away from the station, but someone cleared their throat.

"Ah." Wally West held up a wallet. "Y'dropped this."

"Oh... oh!" The man with the glasses laughed sheepishly. "Thank you. ...You look familiar. Have we met?" He accepted his wallet back.

Wally's grin suggested something not quite pleasant. "Yeah, maybe. But hopefully not in the station, you know?"

"Of course." The blonde smiled brightly. "Thank you for finding this, son. Take care now." He turned and started down the street.

The red-head watched after him, then sighed, irritated, and planting his hand to his face. "Man, shouldn't have done that..."

"Wally West."

The speedster whirled around, looking a bit alarmed, then scowled. A man, taller by an inch or so than himself, stood before him, wearing a blue trenchcoat, suit, and hat... and he had no face. Called from time to time 'the Question', though really, he never provided a traditional superhero name. Still, that was pretty much what this detective was - one big question.

Wally peered at him. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

"I should be asking the questions right now." Nothing rude in his voice, but obviously needed to get to the point. "Which is exactly why I'm here - asking you questions." Question motioned Wally near, suggesting that he needed to speak with him a bit more privately. "Where's J'onn?"

"What?" He raised a brow.

"He went to see you eleven hours ago, Flash. When did you last see him?"

Wally waved his hand at him. "Whoawhoawhoa - no 'F' word right now and HOW THE HELL did you know who I was and I have no idea where J'onn is!"

"Wasn't very hard to figure out," the Question told him. If he had a face, Wally was sure that he would be smirking. "I do my research. So you haven't seen the Martian at all?"

"No. Why did he come down?"

"I already said: to see you. Though he didn't make his destination suggests that he was taken. Kidnapped." The Question motioned Wally towards the alleyway so they could speak a bit more freely. The fastest man alive followed, frowning at the detective. "Someone in Central City, no less. Know anybody who wants to pick on aliens?"

"No." Wally rethought that. "Well... maybe Grodd, but he's not in Central City. Solovar's got him locked up in Gorilla City with Giganta. Heat Wave broke out pretty recently, but he hasn't really done anything yet and he's kind of more commonly robbin' banks instead of kidnapping Martians. And, uh... really, no idea. They're kind of your basic wackos, y'know?"

"Then it was possibly someone out of the ordinary, or someone not typically in the city. At any rate..." Question gestured down the street. "Get suited up; we should go Martian hunting."

The initial reaction was to say that he was still on leave, but Wally was hardly that heartless. J'onn came down to see him, and was now missing; he could certainly suit up and look for his friend. He owed him that much.

"Be back in a sec!" Wally zipped down the street.

"Take your time," the Question mused after the speedster was long gone.

He awoke blearily. Blinking, he could hardly see or sense anything around him with a mind; he knew that his body had, sometime ago due to mental and physical stress, reverted to his natural born Martian body.

Wherever he was, it was far too hot, and there were handcuffs on his wrists that were heated to the point of keeping him far too weak. There were blisters on his body, spots where he wasn't bothering to check, feeling incapable of moving much or checking around him.

"J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter?"

Turning his head faintly, he squinted faintly. A tall man in a labcoat, long dark hair tied back, wearing his glasses low on the bridge of his nose.

"How nice to meet you," he spoke softly, approaching to look down over him. "Though under unfortunate circumstances..."

The Martian took in a tired breath, looking up at the man, unable to reach into his mind for any information. Wincing, he spoke, "You are...?"

"Pierce Tan. And sorry so say, but you won't be escaping anytime soon."

* * *

_Predictably to be continued.  
_

* * *

**Next Chapter:** The Question and the Flash investigate the disappearance of J'onn; Question begins to find interesting connections. Flash is not amused. The government is awfully tricky, and so are Lanterns.

**Notes:**

The blonde man is the same blonde cop with the glasses in 'The Brave and the Bold' from the first season of Justice League.  
Pierce Tan is an original character.  
Reviews and comments are wonderful and delicious, whether or not they are flamey. Yumyum for my tum.


	2. In Which There Are Connections

**Disclaimers and Useless/Useful Stuff to Know:**  
Don't own Justice League. Never will. WB and DC got dibs that I don't. Takes place around the first season of JLU, pre-The Return.

* * *

**Onions and Cakes**

by Alba Aulbath

* * *

"So, just what the heck are we supposed to be looking for here?" the Flash wondered, sighing with obvious annoyance.

"Clues. You ever do detective work, Speedy?" the Question commented offhand, not even giving the other League member a glance.

"Batman usually kinda does, and G.A.'s gonna sue you for callin' me that."

For reasons the Flash couldn't begin to fathom, somehow he and the Question had ended up looking to the prison where Heat Wave had been originally kept. Walls had been melted down to the point where he had escaped; by the time the pair of heroes had arrived, what had been burned had been cooled off into formation. Question was stepping by the shuffling policemen and through the gapes that Heat Wave had caused; the Flash was following him, resisting the urge to just sigh some more and look very put upon.

"Why are we checking here if J'onn's been kidnapped by some whacko?" the Flash elaborated on his earlier question.

The faceless man stopped in Heat Wave's former cell looking over the walls and the floor, then knelt down as if to observe something. "You aren't sure if Heat Wave's the 'whacko' we're after," the detective remarked.

"Hey hey; I know he's an annoying supervillain. I catch 'im three times a week in the city, pretty much. I know his style, and kidnapping an alien really kind of doesn't make sense."

"Then he's not alone in the game." The Question held up a finger before Flash could step forward. He pressed his finger to the floor, seeming to outline something. "What size feet does Heat Wave have?"

"I dunno, maybe size ten - heck if I know. You plan on going shopping for sneakers?"

"Not at all. I just happen to notice that someone else other than Heat Wave's been pacing around in this cell. There might be plenty of dust and his footprints, but there was someone here earlier. Who probably shouldn't have been." The Question stood up, gazing down at his gloved fingers; they had some powdery residue that didn't appear to be part of the debris around. "What kind of lock down do they have around here?"

"I dunno much about it. I just drag the psychos over here." Shrugging faintly, Flash leaned against the scorched wall. "I know they use keycards to get in to check on the cells." He quickly came to the Question's line of thinking. "Someone broke him out?"

"They don't normally lock up the enemy with their weapons, do they?"

"Yeah, real funny. So you have a point, but who would do that? Heat Wave is pretty much a solo villain; he doesn't have a huge list of contacts."

The Question stood up, looking at some of the residue on his fingers. "Who indeed?" he mused.

"Say it's a conspiracy, and I am SO not working with you," Flash muttered, planting his hand to his forehead. "Have a hunch?"

"A better one if we talk to the authorities." The Question turned, walking down the hall to spot someone to talk to. Shrugging without a better idea, the Flash quickly followed him.

Essentially, everyone was busy shuffling in the hallways and getting things in order. While someone escaping was something predictable, the damage was, apparently, not something that occured too often. The pair of Leaguers were basically brushed aside with quick apologies until they came across the Blonde Man; the Question recalled that Flash had been speaking to him before out of costume.

"Ah, Flash; I was wondering if you'd come by and see this mess." The blonde smiled awkwardly. "Now's not a terrific time, but I can tell you what I can, if you want." He paused, noticing the Question. "Who is this? I don't believe that I'm familiar with your... ...well, I suppose 'face' isn't the polite term..."

"I'm from Hub City," was all the faceless man was willing to supply.

"Everyone calls 'im the Question. Hey, Detective, what happened here?" the Flash wondered.

Pushing up his glasses, the cop shook his head. "Really, we have no idea. Somehow, Heat Wave got his hands on his suit again and melted his way out. Someone must have brought it in, but we can't understand how; there's a very limited access in and out here."

The Flash looked confused. "What about a security camera?"

"No good. All the cameras had a blackout just before whoever went inside," the cop responded, shaking his head.

"Is there a way to find a record of the last people to go in?" the Question asked.

"Well... yes and no. The keycards tell us which division entered, not the person who owns it. There's a keycard belonging to Central Labs on Fifth Avenue, one to the security guards, a keycard between me and Detective Morillo - Flash, you've met him..."

"Yeah, he's a real nice guy." The Flash rolled his eyes while the blonde smiled a bit helplessly.

"Anyway, I'm sure you've got the idea," the cop shrugged.

The Question folded his arms, as it was his only means of physical expression. "Let's see who last swung by to pay Heat Wave a visit."

"Well, we did check already, but it doesn't make much sense." The blonde motioned for both heroes to follow him as he stepped into one of the security rooms. Sitting down at a computer, he typed away until he brought up the appropriate file, gesturing. "Central Labs," he read outloud.

"Why would Central Labs have a keycard, anyway?" the Question inquired, though in Flash's opinion he always sounded like he was interrogating someone.

But this didn't bother the cop at all, who turned to look at the Question. "Central Labs accepts weapons and whatever else might be at a scene of a crime and investigates it in all forms and purposes. Though..." He frowned.

"What is it?" Flash tilted his head.

"Central Labs was the last place that I know of that did have Heat Wave's weapons," the cop admitted. "I don't like the idea of considering that anyone there is behind this. Most of them I know personally, as far as I can remember."

The Flash narrowed his eyes, then shook his head. "Hey, don't sweat it, Detective Allen! We'll check it out."

"Well, I'd like to ask Iris personally, but..." Allen shrugged. "I'm up to my neck in work here right now. You let me know what's going on, Flash."

"No problem!" the Flash dashed out from the room, but the Question remained, only briefly glancing over his shoulder, then he looked at Allen.

"Iris?"

Allen nodded. "Oh, yes. She's a dear friend to me. When I was in my worst hour, she was there for me. I'm not sure what I would have done without her. She's a dedicated scientist, ever since I met her. She'd be someone you'd want to talk to, Question."

"Does she have a connection to the Flash?" the Question mused.

"They do appear to be good friends, but honestly, it's hard for someone in this city to not get along with someone like him," Allen chuckled.

There wasn't much of a reply from the Question; just an amused 'hmm' as he turned and stepped out without a good-bye to be said. Stepping out the front door, the Flash was waiting, arms folded and tapping his foot irritably.

"What took you?" the Fastest Man wondered.

"Aching to get to the labs?"

"Well, yeah; we kind of have an investigation."

The Question probably would have narrowed his eyes at the Flash; the speedster couldn't tell, but the look he was receiving was a little reminiscent of Batman's 'what are you hiding' glare.

"What do you know about Iris?" the detective inquired.

"She's a friend; known her a long time." The Flash shrugged. "Look, can we go?"

"And how?" The Question gestured, as if to make a point about his lack of travel capability. "Remember sometimes everyone else isn't the hyperactive roadrunner you are."

The Flash eyed at him.

* * *

If it were many others, like Booster Gold or Green Arrow, there would be much complaining involved. They would, perhaps, call it undignified or simply whine until the trip was over.

It was the case in point that some had to recall that not everyone (A) owned jets or otherwise a technological capability that allowed them to fly, (B) natural or freak-accident capability to fly, or (C) could run anywhere they practically wanted. The Question wasn't the richboy Batman was and the only freaky things about him was his personality and his face - or lack thereof.

Nevertheless, the Question had his arms around the Flash's neck and was essentially given a 'lift' to Central Labs, and he simply made no comment.

The Flash considered the possibility that maybe the Question thought it was the most normal thing in the world, for superpowered people to give him a ride somewhere because he couldn't fly or anything of the like. Not even a grappling hook.

No, the Question wasn't complaining. Just humming a rather bouncy song to himself that the Flash was pretty sure another one of those pop songs he heard a lot on the radio, Supergirl's favorite station in fact.

(This guy is such a kook,) the Flash decided.

Thankfully, once they got to their destination, the Question stopped humming and let go, walking casually to the labs with the red-clad man behind him.

As soon as they stepped in, one of the scientists perked up in alert. "Flash?"

"Hey, Jerry; where's Iris?" the speedster waved at him.

Pointing behind himself, Jerry smiled faintly. "Her office. Go on ahead. She's still busy last I saw her; she's pretty baffled about Heat Wave's weapons missing."

"Sounds familiar," the Question commented while sparing a glance to the Flash, who could only shake his head and grumble to himself.

Nodding to Jerry, the Flash hurried off down the halls of the lab to go find Iris. At his own pace, the Question simply followed in a humbled walk, hands in his pockets.

The moment the Flash zipped his way into her office, Iris turned from her computer with a tired grin. She only came up, in height, to his shoulder, but her smile was familiarly similar to the Flash's. Her hair was a light brown, coming down to her chin, and her eyes glittered a soft green.

Standing up, she gestured him inside. "Wally, good timing, I-" She stopped short, not having noticed the faceless man until he stepped in. "Oh, I..."

The Flash held up his hand. "Don't worry about it; he kinda noseyed into my background and knows my name anyway," he assured, shooting the Question a brief glare.

Either not noticing or not caring, the detective turned his head to Iris. "Good timing?" he repeated for her.

"Oh! I'm just glad to see you here; Heat Wave's suit was stolen, then obviously he got it back somehow." Iris let out a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Whoever did it was brief and wasted no time; he used the keycard from the labs, then brought it back in time when I was looking for it when I heard about Heat Wave's breakout - and the fact that he had his suit back."

"Let's see the card," the Question told her.

Shrugging, she turned around to unlock a drawer, opening it and taking out the keycard; she handed it over. "I don't know what you intend to find, but..."

Silently, the Question turned around and studied the card. The Flash let himself roll his eyes and look at Iris, as if to quietly tell her that he was not enjoying his current partner - in which she merely grinned at him.

"So this is the infamous Question?" Iris asked the speedster while the detective was silently investigating the card.

"Yeah," the Flash let out a sigh, quickly at her side and speaking quietly to her. "He says J'onn disappeared, and he thinks Heat Wave has something to do with it. It's ridiculous; Heat Wave doesn't have anything to do with J'onn! Ugh, who sent him down here to help, anyway...?"

"I'm sure he's very capable, Flash," Iris smirked at him.

"I'm sure he's very nutty," he muttered.

Iris shrugged helplessly. The Flash was probably overreacting, in her opinion, though she merely looked at him sympathetically, placing a hand to his arm.

Finally turning around, the Question was eyeing at the card, then at his gloved hand. Then he held out his hand, dust on his fingertips, it looked like. "Powder," he elaborated. "It was what gave away the footprints in Heat Wave's cell. So whoever is giving our pyromaniac villain here a hand is working with whatever this stuff is."

"Powder...? Strange. I can see if I can analyze it. Flash, I have your communicator signal; see what you and Question can still dig up around the city on J'onn's disappearance. I can contact you when I have some hopefully good news," Iris suggested. She took the card back from the Question and turned to go to the backdoors of her office.

Flash turned to leave, but Question held up a finger. "Iris. What's her connection to you?"

"You don't know?"

"Your profile is harder to investigate than most others in the League; frankly, I'm still working on it recently."

Flash couldn't help but smirk faintly. "Most?"

"Batman's thorough."

Shrugging, the speedster didn't seem interested in discussing. "She's family."

Leaning forward, as if to get on some kind of eye level with the Flash, the detective spoke lowly, obviously interested in getting more information from him. "Then why isn't she listed in your profile? I've checked school records, newspapers, family tree, the orpha-"

"What the hell does this gotta do with finding out where J'onn is?" the Flash demanded sharply, glaring at the detective.

"What indeed."

"Is that one of your favorite lines or WHAT? Get a copyright already!" Flash held up a finger at him, though he debated the more offensive phalange. "Why the hell would I be on your suspect list!"

"You're not." The Question's tone was clearly a smirking one. "Not right now anyway. What were you doing at the police station earlier, Wally? Is it Detective Allen?"

"An hour's gone by since I ran into you, and I'm already so damned sick of you!" The Flash was quick to leave the room.

"Point taken and proven." The Question turned and calmly started out after the Flash, singing to himself far too cheerfully:

"_One is the loneliest number..._"

* * *

"Flash to Watchtower!" the communicator snapped irritably.

Wonder Woman lifted her head from her discussion with B'Wana Beast and Wildcat. If you could called it a discussion.

She put a hand to her forehead and wondered how in Hera's name did J'onn deal with this, day in and day out.

"All right, you two go. No. More. BRAWLING," she ordered in her best Amazonian tone. The pair turned around, though she clearly heard B'Wana Beast utter a sarcastic cat-hiss noise. Sighing, she turned around and press a button to return the call. "Diana here; Flash, how are you?"

"Feeling like crap, Princess; why'd you send this nutjob down here?" The Flash sounded clearly quite grumpy.

Wonder Woman made a helpless and apologetic sound. "I'm sorry. Elongated Man isn't here, and Batman can't help; he's on another case in Gotham. Firefly broke out. It was short notice, and the Question volunteered, and he IS a detective."

"Yeah, well, he's being a real pain in the foot. ...Firefly?" The Flash seemed to consider something.

"Yes. It wasn't too long ago, I guess. I hadn't realized Batman was busy I called him for help when J'onn went missing."

"Heat Wave's gone, too." The Flash paused. "Hey, can you check the prison in Metropolis, Princess? See if there were any breakouts?"

"I haven't heard Superman mentioned anything, but... then again, he's out in Europe right now." Diana turned and began to check the database. "But you know..." It started to dawn on her. "Supergirl mentioned this morning at breakfast. Volcana escaped."

The Flash was heard smirking. "Thought so."

"Great Hera... It's not just a coincidence, is it?"

"Nothing ever is," the Question added over the communication line, and the Flash didn't hide his grumble of annoyance. "The Martian's from a planet colder than ours. He's more vulnerable to heat than most of us, except for maybe Ice. It's a weakness for him. Whoever kidnapped him had that intention, which is why Firefly, Volcana, and Heat Wave are out running around."

"You don't think J'onn would be..." Diana didn't want to consider the possibility that the psychic was gone for good.

"I doubt it. If he was, then we'd be seeing three pyromaniacs tearing down the streets, don't you think?" the Question pointed out. "The Martian's alive out there - and for a reason. Only, we just don't know who's responsible... Yet."

* * *

"55 degrees farenheight, thereabout... Amazing that you could stand Africa, Mr. J'onzz, or did you quietly suffer?" There was no reply, and it seemed to be something that the speaker expected. "I won't be able to speculate your bloodtype since you're not human, but I suppose it might not matter; you won't be able to have a blood transfusion. Your height varies, but at your natural state as you are, you're about 6'5" and 145 pounds. For such a height, one would thing you'd weigh more..."

J'onn was barely awake as the scientist talked on and on. He didn't speak to him, but merely watched as his temperature had been taken, blood had been drawn, and so on.

Pierce Tan, as he had announced himself to be, spoke softly and never made eye contact once with J'onn. Admittedly, that was not so difficult to do, considering the fact that the Martian had a difficult time keeping his vision focused and to even keep watch of the scientist who was keeping him in such an ungodly heated basement.

There were a lot of supplies and tools on the tables surrounding the both of them; a working sink for biochemical and biohazard reasons, he fathomed. A bin, and an empty bottle of water near a cooler which was, undoubtedly, no longer particularly cool.

It had been J'onn's speculation, since he felt too weak to reach into Pierce's mind and find the answers himself (and the man had, he found out once Pierce was near enough once, a metal headband on, much like the ones given to Green Lantern and the Flash once when Grodd had gone to Central City), that Pierce was not particularly proud of having him as a captive. It led him to speculate that though Pierce had three madmen with pyromania tendecies hired, that the scientist was still working under someone else.

It was simply him being presumptuious, though.

"What was the medical procedures like on Mars?" Pierce inquired, this time not simply a rhetorical question.

J'onn frowned, unsure if he was capable of speaking much, his throat completely dry. "...I am... unsure of the specifics..." he answered honestly. "...Though I can use the basic technology here... I was not exactly a scientist on my world, to begin with..." He frowned to himself.

Pierce seemed genuinely interested. "Yes? Oh. My apologies..." He glanced around, as if he was expecting someone to be watching, then turned to the cooler to pull out a bottle of water. "It's not quite cold anymore, but here." Tilting the Martian's head, he allowed him some sips of water. "Now, please, continue."

"..." J'onn's expression went dark. "...After the invaders arrived on my world, I had no choice but to learn some science... Though I am not as... medically inclined as many others were on my planet. I can only perform... the simple procedures here on Earth rather than any that were on Mars."

Considering this, Pierce nodded before pushing up his glasses. "...What were you before the war with the invaders?"

"An artist..." J'onn looked at him a bit wryly. "I sculpted."

"I see." Pierce smiled faintly. "...Though that's hardly relevant to my investigation. Perhaps I shouldn't be making you speak so much, but I've had my curiosities about many members of the Justice League... particularly those who are sole survivors of their race. You, Superman, and Supergirl. Though S.T.A.R. labs has studied Kryptonians, no one has taken a look at a Martian."

"...And that is why I am here."

Nodding. "I'm afraid so."

"...Who is responsible...?"

Standing up, Pierce picked up a small plastic sheet and a scalpel from a table. He frown, shaking his head. "It won't matter to tell you much of anything about 'who was behind this' or 'that', Mr. J'onzz. You won't exactly be leaving this facility. I am terribly sorry." He pulled up a stool, sitting beside where the Martian laid. Taking an arm, the dark-haired man pressed down on the scalpel, cutting down into the alien's flesh. While J'onn let out a pained cry, Pierce quietly worked and cut off a piece of the Martian's skin, setting it onto the plastic sheet.

Though he hardly left J'onn unattended; bandages and a murmur of what could have been an apology were made before the scientist turned away.

"Your shapeshifting abilities are a mystery to me," Pierce narrated; either to keep some one-sided converstion going, or because J'onn was incapable of reading his thoughts. "So... I apologize for doing that. It's for some study."

"You say 'sorry'... in spite of what you're doing..."

Nodding, the scientist didn't look at J'onn as he continued to speak. "I can honestly say that I'm ashamed of resorting to this. Hiring madmen and capturing a member of the Justice League, doing this to you? Not part of my morality."

"Then why...?"

Pierce lifted his head and looked at J'onn, smiling sadly. "If I told you, you and I both would be in a lot of trouble, Mr. J'onzz. You really don't want to know what kind of people you'd end up with if I wasn't involved on this project..."

* * *

"Rundown of the clues so far?" The Flash glanced to the Question curiously; it was likely that he was keeping better track than the speedster was.

"Three pyromaniacs were 'helped' out of prison and probably hired to take down the Martian. Someone who has access from Central Labs, no doubt, who knows where to look and how to shut off security just long enough to do what he needs to do. And he's left behind some powder." The pair had reapproached the labs. They didn't come up with many other leads, and before frustration sunk in further, Iris had given them a call to come back for the results of the analyzation of the powder that had been left behind on two accounts.

The Flash eyed at him. "Someone from the labs? Yeah right; I know most of the staff here."

"Oh?"

The Fastest Man Alive grumbled; of course the Question was curious. "Through Iris, I met most of 'em. I trust them. Not everyone's got some dark motivation."

"No, but everyone has something dark, even if it's not motivated." The Question opened the door to Iris's office.

Turning around, the female scientist motioned them inside quickly. "Do either of you know of a man named Jonathan Crane?"

"The Scarecrow. He's in Arkham," the Question responded immediately.

She nodded. "Some years ago, he used a powder on athletes to invoke fear in them when they reached a peak of excitement. This powder is a bit similar, though over the years it doesn't have the same properties as the powder Crane used. This stimulates a momentary recall of a memory."

"How exactly?"

Iris sat down to her desk, letting the Question take the paper with the results of the analyzation. "Say someone has forgotten something from their childhood, or anything of the like. The powder can act temporarily and allow someone to remember something. It's not controlled, though."

"So, what's that got to do with the Scarecrow?" The Flash was completely lost.

"The powder the Scarecrow used would cause someone to fear something. It would react in someone almost like celluar memory. I'll try to give an example." Iris sat back in her chair, thinking. "The powder causes a physical reaction, which causes you to suddenly remember something. Say a certain object reminds you of a particular memory, because that holds meaning to you. The powder helps initiate something similar; it's like a reminder tool. The powder from Crane caused fear through celluar memory, of something we used to fear or can fear. Ah... I hope that helps; you look a little pale, Flash..."

"Iris." The Flash frowned, looking at her. "Don't you think..."

"No," she answered quickly. "Why would he do something like that?"

The Question lowered the paper, looking at the pair. "Who?"

"...A close friend and co-worker. Dr. Pierce Tan." Iris turned to look at the detective. "I've worked with him for years. He's younger than me, and quite gifted... though he has an obsession with things like celluar memory and recalling something that's deep inside and locked in our minds. There's absolutely no reason why he would be involved with breaking out Heat Wave or capturing J'onn. It's impossible; he's a good friend of mine and Flash's."

"Did you know he was developing this powder?" The Question obviously didn't seem to be phased by the fact that Iris wasn't willing to believe that a friend was capable of all this.

"I didn't, IF he was developing it at all," she told him sourly.

The Flash frowned and placed a hand to the back of his neck, considering what to say. "It doesn't seem like something he'd do," he admitted. "But..."

"Wally." Iris scowled at him. "He would NOT do this. You know him; you've known him since you were fifteen."

"Yeah, and I know he'd kinda gone off the deep end sometimes."

"Let's keep this organized, shall we?" The Question placed the sheet of paper down onto Iris's desk. "Why is Dr. Tan obsessed with memories?"

The Flash looked less than willing to discuss. Iris responded with, "That's certainly none of your business, Question."

"It is, with the Martian missing in action."

"A friend got amnesia; he snapped and wanted to see if he could cure it," the Flash told him quickly. "Look, does it matter? I don't even see a motivation."

"He doesn't have to have a motivation to be involved." The Question shrugged. "Not a motivation against the Martian, anyway. But there's one on a different subject, and I'm going to have to find out why."

"Personal matter, Question; let it go."

All eyes and those lack thereof were turned to the doorway. Green Lantern looked sternly between the three of them, then approached the Flash, pointing at him. "When were you going to tell me this came up?"

"Hey, look, I just found out!" the Flash held up his hands defensively. "I don't know what's going on!"

"You never mentioned Dr. Tan was working on anything like recalling memories."

"Yeah, well, maybe I'm kinda hoping it'll WORK."

John narrowed his eyes. "It can't happen."

"Why NOT?"

"You know why not."

"EXCUSE me," Iris cut in, standing up. She held out her arm, intervening between Green Lantern and the Flash. "John, I appreciate you coming by and hopefully supporting Question and Flash, but this isn't something we can openly discuss!"

The Flash folded his arms, frowning and glancing at Question, then back to Lantern. "Sometimes, John, you're a real jerk," he grumbled, dashing out of the office without another word. Without a word, the Question started to follow; however, Green Lantern held up his arm to block him off.

"And where do you think you're going?" John asked sharply.

"Follow him. You think it's smart to let him run out like that?" the Question tilted his head. "I'm starting to pick up on a pattern here. What's got you involved in all this?"

Green Lantern gave him a disapproving look. "This is about us finding J'onn, as soon as possible."

"It's also about Wallace West, Iris, you, Dr. Tan... and I'm betting on another one, too. Why don't you talk to me about Detective Allen? How about why Wally's record doesn't show any family members other than his parents, yet here he has a perfectly good relation right here. Right, Iris?" The detective leered at her, and she glanced away. Lantern said nothing. "Interesting. This is something big all right. But it begins with the Flash. And we'll see where it ends." The Question moved Lantern's arm out of the way, walking down the hall after the speedster.

Outside, the Flash waited, angry obviously. He spotted the Question, and glared at him. "It's not one big conspiracy."

"Sure it isn't."

"Look, what's this all got to do with J'onn, anyway? Even if it is Pierce, it doesn't make sense why you want to dig into this so damned much."

The Question folded his arms. "It's my job."

"Self-appointed."

"Isn't yours?"

Flash sighed and shook his head. "Look, would you just drop it? I don't want anyone digging into my personal life, much less YOU."

"Let me explain it to you. Everyone, whether or not they realize it, all have one connection. There are layers upon layers of stories, but all leads to one thing. Conspiracy. Which is why I investigate; whether or not you wanted to be, you're involved in the conspiracy. You're keeping silent about something, and it only suggests suspicion, and makes more possible connections. There was someone's memory wiped, and you were shut up about it, and so was Iris, Pierce, and Green Lantern. But Pierce refuses to give that up, but you have to keep it a secret, don't you? So what is it, the government, or-"

"It wasn't G.L."

The Question probably would have lifted a brow. "Pardon?"

"He wasn't involved. Not really." The Flash sighed. "Look, I can't talk about it. Even if I could, I wouldn't. It's got nothing to do with why J'onn's missing. So would you let it GO?"

"Probably not. But I'll cut you a deal for now."

"Gotta love the 'for now' part," the Flash grumbled.

"Tell me about Dr. Tan, and I'll leave the rest of it alone for now. Besides, I have different ways of finding out that doesn't include asking you questions."

"Then why have you been?"

"Easier to." The Question considered. "And you don't look ready to strangle me, which I find to be a very commendable point in someone."

"...Seriously?"

"Of course. You only look like you want to punch me."

The Flash looked at him, raising a brow. "...I guess that's a step-up?"

"Works for me, Speedy."

"Flash." Green Lantern shut the front door behind him, frowning. "Maybe you should keep taking a hiatus."

"Maybe he's been taking a vacation too long," the Question commented.

"Would you butt out of this?" Lantern sent him a cold look before turning his head back to the Flash. "I mean it. This might be getting in over your heels right now, and if Pierce really is behind this-"

"Then I wanna be there and know why. I mean, it might not be his fault, G.L. Seriously, I'm fine." Flash shook his head at him. "Where should we head out for next?"

John gave him an uncertain look, then frowned in hesitant compliance. "I'm going to Gotham and Metropolis to narrow this down. Flash, take the Question with you to see if you can find Pierce at his place." Green Lantern approached the detective, narrowing his green eyes. "And don't you try to interrogate anyone else on this subject!" The Question just shrugged at him. That seemed to satisfy the Green Lantern enough. "If you find out something, let me know," Lantern instructed Flash.

The speedster smirked. "What am I, a teenage sidekick? I'm not gonna forget to." Green Lantern nodded and took off into the sky.

The Flash turned to the Question, then scratched behind his neck. "...So, uh, hop on...?"

"I need an invisible jet," the Question muttered.

* * *

_Predictably to be continued._

* * *

**Next Chapter:** There are several links to a chain reaction, that continues to answer questions and make more of them. The Flash and J'onn are unfortunately along for the ride. The Question makes tea.

**Notes:**

Detective Morillo is a character from the comics, a supporting cast member in the Flash comics. I'm referring to him as the other cop that was with the blonde man (who has been named, now, as Allen). Jerry is Jerry McGee, a scientist from the comics as well. I'm trying to stick with some Timm style and keep as many original characters lowkey as possible - unfortunately, I didn't find anyone quite like Pierce's personality, so I did create him as already mentioned.

The Flash might seem a little highstrung, but as you can expect, there's a reason for it. Also, hopefully, part of the fic will explain why he thinks the Question is such a 'kook' in Doomsday Sanction. Though I've yet to actually view all of the episode, I caught the beginning there, naturally. I do intend to have Flash calm down eventually and be able to them bounce off of each other without the big tension being there.

I'm hoping that I'm keeping the story considerably interesting without throwing too much into the reader's face at once. It's a bit difficult, dropping clues that are hopefully clever enough and keep it open so it can be figured out without seeming too confusing. I'm also hoping to keep a pace similar to Justice League Unlimited and hopefully make it feel like this could potentially be an episode. I'm hopin' I'm doin' okay with that.

**To the readers:**

**Raven Hope:** I planned on using a lot of Flash aspects, Iris's involvement included. Though her role isn't exactly drawn precisely from the comics, she's still significantly part of Wally's life and the plot. :D Hope you enjoy.

**doc-trigger:** I have updated, thus I hope I have avoided all possible porcupine encounters.

**Dacker Spaniel:** Hopefully you still feel the same way. I was really concerned with this chapter, because it might feel that things are being dropped onto the reader's clap too suddenly. It's difficult to drop clues and keep the air of mystery around on the storyline.

**Dusha:** Thanks very much for your compliments, and I hope you're still enjoying the fic! J'onn is one of the wisest, but he is also the oldest. He's several centuries old. So yeah, I understand how awkward that might have felt when it was read. The thing about Flash's relationship with John is that it's going to change a little, because it seems like it was changed after the Thanagarian invasion and during JLU. At least to me, it does. This'll be elaborated on. The Question is way different from Batman, even if he is a master of the martial arts and a keen detective he's also suspicious of literally everyone and sarcastic. And a bit of a crazy. But I love 'im; he enjoys music. Woo him!

**balletangel19:** It's named Onions and Cakes because of a discussion I had with a friend of mine. I had trouble thinking of a title for the fanfic, because I frankly quite suck with titles. She suggested 'More'. I asked her why, she said 'because this story has more connections to be found, more layers to be found, and more everything'. Layers made me think of Shrek, where they discuss layers. Which includes onions and cakes. The line of thinking about onions and cakes and their layers, and plus it's not a very conventional Justice League title for an 'episode', so I decided to use it.

**HawkAngel XD:** Glad you enjoyed! Hope you felt the same for this chapter!


	3. In Which They Investigate

**Disclaimers and Useless/Useful Stuff to Know:**  
Don't own Justice League. Never will. WB and DC got dibs that I don't. Takes place around the first season of JLU, pre-The Return.

* * *

**Onions and Cakes**

by Alba Aulbath

* * *

Somewhere along the line, J'onn had drifted off to sleep, though he could not recall how or when; the 'how' due to the fact that it was unbearably hot in the basement for him, and the heated handcuffs didn't help him at all, and the 'when' confusing because he could swear he still heard Pierce continuously scribbling notes and observing what he could from what tools could offer aid and what little he could learn about the Martian's anatomy without harming him further - possibly killing him.

That was either noble of the scientist, or he was drawing out J'onn's torture. He wasn't aware of which at the moment, from what little he knew of Pierce.

From the doctor's ramblings, he admitted that he was from Central City and had developed a taste for his profession from a friend. The details he skipped or J'onn could not catch/recall from his delirium, but he had summed up that Pierce had been in one city for most of his life, and received his drive from a companion whose name had never been mentioned. In spite of having been kidnapped and feeling feverish, dehydrated, and overall horrible, J'onn suspected that Pierce was not such a terrible person.

Which made him all the more concerned as to why he was doing all of this.

Eventually, Pierce turned around and tilted his head, then offered, "Are you hungry?"

J'onn nodded faintly.

"Hmm. I suppose I never really thought about it," he admitted. "What kind of food would a Martian eat?"

Smiling faintly, wryly, the psychic spoke out loud as he could, "...Earth food... is just as well..."

"All right. I'll see what I can do." Standing up from his work, Pierce left at a brisk pace.

Closing his eyes, J'onn took in a slow breath. It'd been hours since he'd been taken, burned from Volcana, Heat Wave, and Firefly alike. Though, his mind a little more awake than it had been for awhile, he noticed his injuries had been treated, though hastily. His communicator wasn't in his ear, or else Diana would have attempted contact - and it was no doubt destroyed or at least dismantled by this point, or else he would have been found already. If he gave Pierce the credit he deserved, the basement was also likely to be lined with lead, so either Superman or Supergirl finding him at this point wasn't likely. Finally, due to the heat in the room and still being terribly disorientated, he just wouldn't be able to reach out mentally far enough to contact anyone.

He felt his arms being shifted, and opened his eyes, finding Pierce taking off the handcuffs. The dark-haired man tilted his head, then pushed up his glasses, "You're hardly a threat in the condition you're in right now, Mr. J'onzz. So there's no need to cause you any more discomfort." He set the handcuffs aside, and opened a container. "Fruit salad's fine, I hope?"

J'onn nodded.

"Good. I'm not much of a cook, sadly. Been surviving on take-out and instant ramen for the past seven years."

Weakly, J'onn smiled, not replying verbally, and he wasn't able to contact mentally with Pierce's headband on.

Gently, Pierce slid his arm under the Martian's shoulders and helped him sit up before offering the fruit available with some water. Though it appeared as weak and hungry J'onn was, he was incapable of finishing the container.

"Taking care of the subject, Dr. Tan?"

J'onn squinted, barely able to make out the new face... though, not entirely new. Familiar, though he couldn't remember why; it was a man, tired and maybe a tad bit insane, his hair completely black and cut in a bowlcut style.

"If he's not taken care of, then we don't have a subject," Pierce pointed out quietly, frowning behind his glasses. Slowly, he laid the Martian back down. "I didn't permit you access to the prison and the labs so we could kill a perfectly good man."

"Alien," the other scientist corrected, smirking. "But you know we're going to have to kill him sometime. X-rays don't tell us enough about him."

Pierce paled. "You want to do an autopsy, Milo?"

"Don't tell me you're not curious."

"Curiosity has nothing to do with it! This isn't ethical!" Before, Pierce's appearance had suggested a level of timidness; his voice, when speaking to Milo, suggested something completely different to J'onn. "Get out of this lab; I was addressed to him, and I'm doing as I was asked to."

"Hey, don't throw a fit." Milo smirked at him. "You know what to do, but if you keep taking steps to help him, I wouldn't mind getting my hands into the project."

"Whoever is behind all this, do you really think they'd let someone with a record like YOURS get involved?" Pierce sneered at him. "Foiled twice and no doubt more by Batman. Your track record is horrendous."

"But I get results."

Pierce went silent, as if he was incapable of arguing at that, for the moment. He scowled, shaking his head and glancing at J'onn briefly; the Martian did not say anything, predictably.

"Just keep in mind what you're here for, Dr. Tan." Milo grinned at him, turning and leaving the laboratory.

Once he was sure that he had left, Pierce settled down onto his stool, turning to J'onn. At the Martian, he smiled helplessly, shrugging. "...It's not what I want, what they want."

"That man..." J'onn remembered, faintly, of Dr. Milo. Never had they met, but he did have his run-in with Batman previously, sometime before the psychic had ever met any of the Justice League.

"The infamous Dr. Milo. ... I met him, after Lexcorp refused to fund me. I know he's not the only one behind what's going on, but he's the only one I've spoken to. You're in the League with Batman, so you know what kinds of things he's done. It's the kind of thing..." Pierce paused, as if considering a word, then continued with, "...my friend would have been upset over... but instead I, like a coward, agreed to his terms... Maybe I'm too desperate."

"Why are you involved?" It seemed inconceivable; why was a man like Pierce involved with all of this?

Pierce frowned. "...A friend of mine. His memory was completely wiped. He can't remember anything. He's still himself - hardly surprising - but he can't remember a thing. Not for six years. He can't remember me, or his wife, or anyone who used to mean everything to him. I've been trying to find ways to have him recall his memory, but... not many effects have taken place, with what I can work with. That's why I needed the funds. Lexcorp turned me down, unfortunately, as I've said..."

"...Amnesia?" J'onn looked at him, not understanding. If it was just common amnesia, then memory should, gradually, return.

However, Pierce shook his head. "Worse than that. ... His memory was purposefully wiped. I don't know all of the reasons, but it's ridiculous. And I know Iris and Wally agree with me."

(Wally...?) J'onn eyed at him. Was it the same as he knew? Likely, very likely. "...Why am I involved?"

"Several reasons." Pierce readjusted his glasses, scowling as stood up to approach the sink, running some water. "Dr. Milo insisted I capture you. I had the means to, by his suggestion... though it's not the approach I would have preferred. While I'm pleased to get to know the last Martian, this isn't the way to do it. For Dr. Milo... it's a project of his. Something to do with the Justice League. I just don't know what it is. All I know is that I'm to understand you anatomically as I can, hand in the DNA evidence and my research. And then they will fund me."

"You agreed?"

Pierce smiled darkly. "No. But I don't have a choice... and it's not just my life at risk. I'm quite the coward, aren't I?"

"...There is nothing discouraging in doing what you must," J'onn told him quietly. "I don't hold contempt for you, but for your unfortunate employers."

There was a pause between them, then Pierce shook his head. "You're far too forgiving."

"...Yes." J'onn couldn't disagree, even if it was a habit he didn't regret.

* * *

Upon arrival to Pierce Tan's home, it was quick realization to see that he hadn't spent time there for weeks, based on a rough estimate. Dust, mess, and spoiled food aside, it appeared that Pierce had grabbed everything he could before making a quick leave. Folders and papers decorated both the walls, desks, and floors; there was some equipment, much to the basic of forms, though according to the Question most of Pierce's tools had been taken. Either by himself, or someone who didn't want to leave tracks.

Both Flash and Question made a silent agreement to split up. Dashing away at hi-speed, the Flash had gone to the bedroom and kitchen for his searches - after grumbling some when the Question told him to be completely thorough. The Fastest Man suspected that even if he was, the paranoid detective would search the house three times before being even remotely satisfied.

The Question had the rest of the house to himself to search.

Flash had zipped around the bedroom, looking at some things. Clues, hardly, but he found plenty of sentimental things that made him frown.

But he eventually stopped, finding a few stray notes that were probably left behind in a hurry. Many were marked about celluar memory, cases of amnesia, and...

"...G.L.?" The Flash tilted his head, looking at a few newspaper clippings. Not just John Stewart; there was Kyle Rayner and one clipping about Hal Jordan. Glancing at the notes that were taken, he tilted his head curiously and read them over, noting mentions of Star Sapphire and Sinestro, though only briefly.

Setting the notes aside, he continued to search the room, then spotted what appeared to be blueprints for... something. He really didn't understand what it was; the notes that were scribbled down were a bit too complex for his comprehension. Though, Iris might be able to make some sense of it. Maybe Question. Regardless, the pictures showed the design of possibly something mechanical, based mostly on Flash's guesswork. It was humanoid in shape, and the prints described the process of how it should work and look, though he didn't understand it.

Flash rolled up the blueprints and paused, sniffing faintly. With a hyper-accelerated metabolism like the Flash's, smelling out food wasn't inconceivable. Racing out from the bedroom, he lifted a brow at the Question, who was the culprit of a pot of some kind of pasta and cheese. He hadn't checked, but he found it unusual that the detective made something to eat.

"All yours." By the faceless man's tone, it wasn't an offer. It was his intention. It did beg the question (as many were formed about the detective): How did the Question eat?

"Uh, thanks?" The Flash rubbed the back of his neck, curious.

Turning his head a bit to look at the man in red, the Question explained himself, "Better to keep you energized. I'm not exactly a gourmet chef, though, and besides - this was pretty much all that was in Tan's cupboards."

Shrugging with a faint grin, the Flash grabbed the pot full of - he saw it now - macaroni and cheese and found himself a seat in a creaky old chair.

"Find anything yet, Speedy?" Question apparently had even made some tea. Though it probably wouldn't beat Alfred's, it was still appreciated. And... odd. Flash hadn't counted on the Question paying attention to his metabolism, much less knowing exactly to put in thirty-seven sugars and a cream.

(He really seriously does his research,) the Flash mused to himself, surprised. "Nothing that tells me where he took J'onn or really why." He considered revealing the blueprints to him, but considered. "Some things, but I wanna see if Iris can make sense of it. You?"

Flash found himself distracted as, somehow, the Question took a sip from a teacup he found. That was definitely crazy and weird in his book, and he was the guy who fought talking gorillas regularly.

"Well then." The Question tilted his head. "What can you tell me about a man named Barry Allen?"

Flash winced and said nothing, taking his fill of the pot's contents.

"Detective Allen, isn't it? Barry's memories were wiped. So he doesn't remember you, Iris, or Pierce. And the Green Lanterns have something to do with it." The detective folded his arms, expecing an answer to his earlier question.

"Y'know, G.L. toldja not to keep interrogating people," the Fastest Man pointed out, grumbling.

"You always do what you're told?"

Flash shrugged. "Yeah, well..." That was different, he wanted to say. "...Barry was my uncle. He married Aunt Iris, and Pierce was his assistant. He was kind of a scientist, but he was also a cop. Now he's a full-time inspector, y'know?"

"More like he's not allowed to be a scientist."

"Jeez, you sure jump to conclusions," Flash muttered.

Question somehow managed to look smug. "But I'm right. After he lost his memories, you weren't allowed to talk to him as much. Iris isn't married anymore, and both your uncle and aunt had to be legally removed from your records. Pierce couldn't make contact anymore, and it probably was driving him off the deep end. Now the question remains: why was Barry's memory erased?"

"...None of us really know the full story."

"Is that a fact?"

Flash narrowed his eyes. "We weren't told. Pierce, Iris, or me."

"Who did the memory erasing?"

"I wish I knew, 'cuz if I ever met 'im, Supes' x-ray vision wouldn't be able to tell which bone would be what," the Flash grumbled darkly. "I'm not sure if G.L. knows, either. But those Oompa Loompas he works for pro'ly do."

"Did you ever try to find out?"

The Flash nodded. "Yeah. I asked Kyle to try to ask. He did, but they wouldn't tell him anything. If John knows..." He scowled.

"Some heavy business here. There'd have to be some good reason the Green Lanterns are involved with Barry Allen..."

The Fastest Man spoke up before the Question to make another word, "Not another one of your conspiracies. Jeez."

"Conspiracy," Question corrected him. "And all I've seen is a bunch of evidence telling me I'm right. Pierce Tan takes the Martian after breaking out three supervillains; Pierce is connected to you and Barry Allen, who is connected to the Green Lanterns. And we have our own Lantern in the Justice League - who just so happens to be a good friend of yours. Very convenient."

"G.L.'s not hiding anything from me."

The Question shook his head. "We all hide something. Even if you don't know it yet."

"I trust him," the Flash told him stubbornly. "I know G.L."

"Not as well as he probably knows about you."

"Don't you trust anyone?"

Question probably would have frowned, the Flash guessed. "There's always potential for betrayl. You trusted Hawkgirl, before the Thanagarians came to Earth-"

"I still do," the Flash told him sharply, but the Question continued without a beat.

"-and you can clearly recall how that turned out. And think of what might happen if the Justice League goes rogue, like the Lords. The potential of a spy in the League, or the potential of an invader; always consider it an option, even amongst comrades."

Flash went quiet, finishing the pot of mac 'n' cheese. That was too paranoid of a life, too sad of one. (This guy's a real piece of work. Even Batman doesn't freak out this much.)

"What is it you want to show Iris?" the Question asked, as if he never mentioned anything about the matters of trust and distrust.

"Huh? Oh... uh..." the Flash set aside the pot and unrolled the blueprints. "I don't get what this is. It looks like some layout for a machine or something. Humanoid. But I don't get what it does."

The detective quickly took the paperwork from Flash, glancing it over. From his tone of voice, he didn't sound too pleased, "You know what this is?"

"No. You?"

The Question shrugged. "It's a weapon. Formed with organic compounds and biotechnology, from what I can understand. It can make skin contact with someone, then completely memorize their history and everything about them. With machines, it can absorb the workings of it, the outlines, and copy it." Noticing the Flash thinking about this, the detective continued with an example. "If it makes contact with, say, a flamethrower, it can make its own flames."

"It sounds kind of like Amazo," Flash noted.

"Similar. Except this can't copy biological powers, only mechanical ones. Though, seeing from these blueprints, it doesn't look like copying mechnical properties wasn't the original intent."

"How do ya figure?"

The Question held out the blueprints. "Different ink. He designed and wrote different parts at different times. Though I can guess what his intentions were; if this Replicant can make contact with someone and receive their memories through skin contact, then he probably planned it to touch Barry."

"Why would that effect Uncle Barry?" Since the Question had made such an extensive investigation and knew part of Flash's history, he made no attempts to seem informal about his uncle.

"Celluar memory - which is why skin contact is important. Iris said it before; through celluar memory, we can recall things suddenly. Maybe without knowing why, and not knowing we had such a memory. If the Replicant touched Barry, it could read his mind, completely understand his history, and in turn cause celluar memory to make him remember. Assuming this works, anyway."

"Why the other additions? Man, I don't get it. What's J'onn got to with it, too?" The Flash frowned. He stood up and zipped to the Question's side, looking over his shoulder at the paperwork.

"Think about it. It looked like Pierce was in a big rush to leave, and left us clues. Why would he take the Martian? Why these additions? Because it's not his idea anymore." The Question looked to the Flash. "Dr. Tan is working for someone now. He hasn't been here in weeks, and didn't suspect that anyone would come to check on him - so long as he came to work every now and again. Nobody would be the wiser. As for the Martian, he's capable of morphing his body. While the Replicant can only form its body to copy machines, it's still made of organic compound. The Martian was probably just the last piece required for the finishing touches."

The Flash thought about this. Though he still thought that the Question was literally nuts and probably needed some big time therapy, the way he said all of this made sense... and he was starting to be inclined to agree. (Maybe he isn't such a complete kook.) "So the Replicant is a weapon now, and not something to help Barry anymore. Who's making Pierce make the weapon?"

The Question handed Flash the blueprints. "Who do you think was behind Supergirl's clone?"

"Wha- I dunno." The Flash frowned. "You think it was the government?"

"Or at least a hidden group we're not aware of yet." The Question stood up. "Now we need to find Pierce and the Martian."

"Not see Iris?"

The detective shook his head. "No more time to waste. The Martian is in danger, and nobody knows when the Replicant will come to life. Which will be our problem, soon enough."

* * *

At some point, J'onn was sure that he had drifted off again. The heat was slightly less intense with the lack of the heated cuffs, for which he was grateful for. Though he noticed, soon enough, a damp and cold washcloth padding away on his face. He sensed Pierce nearby, without opening his eyes to tell... which made him concerned.

After all, during all of his time in the lab, Pierce had been wearing the headband that prevented J'onn from reading his mind.

Opening his eyes, he found himself staring up at the scientist, who looked at him regrettably.

"Soon, your friends are going to be in danger," Pierce told him quietly. "I'm sorry. ... I haven't had much choice but to comply."

That was a sudden line that had nothing to do with greeting him. J'onn was, naturally, puzzled by Pierce's apology and information. He tilted his head faintly, eyeing at him, as if to say 'oh, really?'

"There are... several reasons why I was here. Why you were taken. For data, for DNA sampling, for the development of something that was only intended to help him... I never meant to endanger anyone, much less the League." Pierce frowned. "J'onn. I'm sorry."

The Martian shook his head faintly. "...you are a victim, as I am."

"Will the League think so?" Pierce smirked faintly. "I doubt it, honestly. I am responsible for your capture, whether or not I'm a willing accomplice. I wish I could stop this..."

"You cannot?"

"No." Pierce shook his head. "They've already threatened lives I care about, and I can't risk them. Just hope that the Justice League can do something about it. But I'm sorry that you had to be involved in the creation of this."

"What has happened?"

"I intended the creation of the Replicant to help him remember, not to be configured into a weapon." Pierce set aside the washcloth, scowling. "Lexcorp turned me down, but somehow, Dr. Milo must have heard about it, or at least the people he works with must have. He's been involved in the creation of this thing. He seems to know what he's doing makes me wonder how often he's done experiments like this."

J'onn didn't quite smile. "Several, from my understanding."

"Still... I hope to postpone Milo from coming in here. Else he might..."

"An autopsy. Yes, I remember... and I can sense your fear." J'onn frowned. "You removed the headband. Why?"

"I need you to understand what's happened... and what I have to do next. And hopefully Wally will forgive me for having taken the headband." Pierce smiled tiredly. "I need you to read my mind and know what's going on. I'm giving you complete permission."

"...You are positive? You will not be in trouble?"

Pierce chuckled. "Any bug and any camera in the room has been shut off, I'm sure. We have about fifteen minutes until they're all rebooted."

The Martian hesitated; regardless, the scientist took his forearm and placed the alien's hand to his head.

And memories quickly began to flow.

* * *

In the Watchtower, it had been a few hours since Wonder Woman had last heard from both Flash and Question. She was concerned, but their signals from their comlinks were still online so she did not fret - yet. The Amazon had been, otherwise, watching over the League and still taking over the shift completely. Superman was away in Europe and was incapable of covering the shift as previously planned.

Relief came swiftly when she heard from the communicator, "Flash to Watchtower!" Fortunately, much less annoyed this time.

"This is Wonder Woman," the Amazon responded. "Flash, how's the search going?"

"It's getting complicated," the Question responded.

The Flash almost grumbled; Diana could tell. "A guy I know, Dr. Pierce Tan, got involved in J'onn's disappearance. He had, far as we can tell, those pyromaniacs escape so he could nab J'onn. So he's making this thing called the Replicant. Question thinks J'onn's DNA can help complete it. Uh, I think that's the basics of it."

"The Replicant will become a weapon," the Question added. "It can absorb information of something mechanical and completely copy it. If it grabs, say, Firefly's flamethrower, it can make its own flamethrower."

"So we found out this much, but we have no idea where Pierce or J'onn are right now," the Flash completed, sighing a bit. "Somewhere around Central City, we figure, but was hoping you had any ideas, Princess?"

"Not a one, sorry to say. J'onn's signal disappeared on the outskirts of Central City. It's been hours, so who knows where he is now?" Diana held her head, frowning. "He must be very weak right now, being incapable of contacting any of us."

The Flash grumbled over the comlink, "Great. G.L. make any contact?"

"No, but he's still active. He's in Keystone right now; do you know why?"

The Question must have been speaking to Flash, since all he said was, "Well?"

"I dunno," the Flash muttered. "I really don't."

Diana glanced over the map with the different signals, nearly missing an additional one blinking at her. She did a doubletake.

J'onn's communicator was online.

"Flash!" the Amazon said quickly. "It's J'onn! His comlink is online!"

"Where?" the Question demanded.

"Central City Harbor. I'll give you directions."

There was a pause, then the Flash groaned. "Hey, Princess? Talk to Batman sometime about givin' this kook a Questionmobile or something, will ya?"

* * *

_Predictably to be continued.  
_

* * *

**Next Chapter:** A flashback, with what J'onn sees in Pierce Tan's mind. What Barry Allen has to do with everything, what the Green Lanterns have to do with everything, and what Wally West has to do with everything. More layers, more conclusions, and more questions. It's a pain in the ass.

**Notes:**

A lot of dialogue and not much going on here. Sorry about that. Most should recognize Dr. Milo; he was in the Batman animated series. He showed up in "Cat Scratch Fever" and "Moon of the Wolf". He also made an appearance in Justice League Unlimited in "Doomsday Sanction". So I can imagine loads of you are going to be able to make loads of guesses now about what the heck is going on.

To note, the Replicant was a villain in the Flash comics. Originally a person, not a creation, but if Bruce Timm can take liberties with origins, damn it so can I! As it is, I'm attempting my best to make comicbook references and keep the original characters as low as possible. Telling the story in an original fashion is another thing entirely, and if you're the comic geek that I'm becoming, then you know how different Barry's origin and fate here is. And maybe take a guess why the Green Lanterns are so involved.

The flashback chapter will probably be short, but it will hopefully clear up so much crap, then we can move on to some action and fun. Woo woo.

**To the readers:**

**Qk:** Sorry I didn't get to you last chapter; as I posted the second chapter, your review just came in. XD Regardless, I'm quite pleased with my grammar skills, though FFnet isn't helping with the format much. I'm so very not pleased with it.

**Tomboy13:** WOO! The infamous Tomboy13. Pleasure to have you review this story. Hopefully, you're still enjoying the connections as they continue to form throughout the story. I'm just kind of hoping the interaction continues to be enjoyable.

**Dacker Spaniel:** Thank you so very much! Hopefully, you'll still feel the same way as this story continues.

**doc-trigger:** Well, read it soon! Because I just posted AGAIN! BWAHAHAHA! Hmm.

**balletangel19:** Flash/Question interaction is quickly becoming a favorite of mine. They don't bounce off of each other the way Flash/GL do, but they have an interesting relationship. And it was my pleasure to make J'onn get out of the Watchtower. About damned time, too!

**Jill:** Here it is, and more Flash/Question to boot! But, I'm afraid poor ol' Question isn't showing in the next chapter since it's all a flashback, pretty much. But Wally is in it! We love Wally, right?

**Red Tigress:** WOO! Glad you liked his inclusion! I dunno if I can squeeze Chyre in. Maybe a mention. I try my best to keep from using original characters, as you know. So if I see fit, I shall use Chyre.

Keep on reviewing! Reviews are my energizers! They keep me going and going and going and...


	4. In Which There Are Confrontations

**Disclaimers and Useless/Useful Stuff to Know:  
**Don't own Justice League. Never will. WB and DC got dibs that I don't. Takes place around the first season of JLU, pre-The Return. 

Originally, this chapter was going to be a flashback chapter. But as I kept writing it, it seemed way too boring, since I think the real kick that me as the writer and you as the audience gets is the dynamic duo-ness with Flash and Question. So you guys get to be kept in the dark for awhile longer until I figure out how to explain what the hell is up. Have fun with this instead! Cheers.

* * *

**Onions and Cakes**

by Alba Aulbath

* * *

While it wasn't a long run to the docks, it was still a bit irritating to have to carry the Question everywhere. He couldn't have a jetpack, or be genetically infused with hummingbird DNA or something - no, the Question had to be a human being with a faceless mask and just be sortakindaCRAZY, in the Flash's own words.

Regardless, the Flash let the paranoid detective settle to his feet before zipping over to one of the old-and-slightly-rotting buildings, checking into his comlink with Wonder Woman, "Signal still there, right?"

"Yes, he's in there-"

Diana was probably saying something else that was relatively important, but it didn't seem to take as much of the Flash's attention as the roof of the building tearing off did; not too many flying debris smacked him, at least, since the Question reacted calmly enough to yank the red-suited hero back. Flash was fast, but he had been briefly surprised. Arising from the remains was a hovercraft, taking off into the air.

"Uh," the Flash pointed out.

"J'onn's signal just disappeared," Diana told them, cursing softly to herself. Something in Greek, probably; Flash didn't quite catch it.

The Question glanced over his shoulder, watching the hovercraft. "Going in the direction of Metropolis," he murmured. "Come on, Speedy." He started to head into the building, what remained of it.

"Call ya back, Princess," the Flash assured the Amazon over the comlink before racing after the Question. "The heck are you looking for? The craft went thataway." He pointed for reference.

Nodding, the detective knelt down and shoved aside some debris. "Yes, but we know the general direction it's going. We need to know what they want to leave behind." He found himself a trapdoor, and kicked it in; there were stairs, leading to a basement. The Question started down the staircase, musing to himself as he eyed at the walls. "Lined with lead."

No comments were required; it was evident that if Superman or Supergirl had the time to help, they wouldn't have been able to use one of their thousands of visions to find J'onn. They went down the stairs, finding themselves in a lab of a reasonable size. There was an examination table, but it was currently empty.

And on the floor was Dr. Pierce Tan, unconscious and with a gunshot to the abdomen. Alive, but bleeding profusely.

"Pierce!" Flash zipped over to the fallen scientist, kneeling down beside him. "Where the heck is J'onn?"

"Aircraft," the Question muttered. He paused, observing the lab while the Flash took care of Pierce. The detective explored the area. "Notes on the Martian. Celluar memory - extended explanations of the Replicant... ...hmm, what's this..." He picked up some notes, then stopped. Pocketing what he had discovered, he brushed away papers and noticed a device sitting on the counter.

Quickly turning to the Fastest Man, the Question told him sharply, "Get us out of here, Speedy!"

Without another word, the Flash took Pierce over his shoulder and hurried to grab the Question; with both men, he raced out of the building, making it several feet away before the entire thing erupted into an explosion. Turning around, the Flash stopped running and narrowed his eyes.

"Lemme guess: didn't wanna leave a trail," the Flash remarked.

"I have something of their's," the Question told him, in some form of assurance. "Drop Dr. Tan off at Iris's; she'll take him to the hospital and handle everything else in between. We need to focus on grabbing the Martian and making sure the Replicant doesn't go online - if it hasn't already."

The Flash had a sour expression on his face. He didn't want to just drop off Pierce, but he was in no position to argue. If there was something to accept, it was that even if he was a bit nutty the Question was sharp and knew precisely what ought to be done. Similar to Batman in a way.

"Back in a sec," the Flash conceded, carefully taking Pierce into his arms and dashing away.

* * *

He was faintly awake, and only aware that Pierce was no longer there. J'onn was incapable of sensing him, but knew there were several other people surrounding him. Wherever he was, he knew there was Heat Wave down at some part of wherever he was, and Firefly at the other end. A few other people his mind grazed over briefly, but then... he was positive that Dr. Milo was nearby.

Opening his eyes, he knew for sure he was in a completely different environment. An engine running, the sounds of flight - he was in a vehicle of some form, though he couldn't tell much beyond that. Turning his head, he found himself startled to see a humanoid creature - asleep, apparently - behind a containment glass with containers of some kind of chemical at either side of it. Its eyes were closed, but in appearance, it appeared to have a throbbing dark energy core in the middle of its chest, fiery orange energy rushing through its body.

"Pretty amazing, isn't it? I can't really take the credit, though." Dr. Milo had noticed the Martian was awake, and was allowing himself to smirk darkly at him. "The Replicant was Pierce's idea. He had a lot of interesting things in his lab. I can tell you, we're going to make great use of it, alien."

J'onn narrowed his eyes. The last he remembered... yes, he read Pierce's mind and had come to understand what happened to the young scientist and why it happened. Why he was involved, so unwillingly. Pierce had repaired the tracer in his comlink to silently let the League know of his location.

But Dr. Milo had come down and taken care of both Pierce and his comlink.

"Pierce," J'onn muttered softly, but he still silently demanded to know his location.

Milo shrugged, "Up in smoke, I'm hoping." He grinned. "I wouldn't worry, if I were you. You've got bigger concerns when we get to Metropolis."

J'onn winced and closed his eyes. That was supposedly his fate, but he didn't so easily believe that was the end of him.

After all, he started to sense someone quickly approaching from below.

Frowning, he attempted to reach out mentally. (...Wally?)

(Rightnowisareallybadtimetotalk! Glad you're okay gotta go be right there!)

Definitely Wally.

J'onn took comfort that he would be all right... soon, hopefully. He opened his eyes and could only wait, regaining his strength.

* * *

"Do you know how ridiculous we look?" the Flash grumbled as he ran along to catch up with the hovercraft; the Question had his arms around the red-suited hero's neck, being that he was still his only lift.

"Less chat, more run; complain to Batman later about it. He has the funds." Flash was quite sure he traced some form of a grumble in the Question's tone.

Dashing up the side of a tower, the Flash sprung off of the edge of the roof of the building, latching onto the edge of the hovercraft - barely. He grunted, agitated, "Don't you... have some kinda... grappling hooks or whatever!"

"When I have a utility belt and wear spandex, you can complain." The Question managed to climb over Flash and onto the top of the craft without making the speedster's grip slip or make it difficult on the shifting of weigh. The detective knelt down, taking Flash's wrist and helping him to his feet.

Staying atop the hovercraft wasn't an easy feat; the Question, in spite of his good balance, stumbled. He gestured sharply, shouting to the Fastest Man, "Find a door or make one!"

"Keep yer hat on, I'm working on it!" The Flash edged his way down the aircraft before slamming the heel of his boot down atop a latch, caving it in. He waved the Question over quickly, then reached out to help him down the hatch before hopping down after him.

Immediately, they were greeted by Heat Wave, who was waiting at the doorway. He smirked and held out the hand of his suit, "This just keeps getting better, doesn't it?"

"Yer tellin' me," the Flash grumbled, glancing to the Question. "You grab J'onn, I'll take this loser."

"What do you expect me to do, fly down?" the Question asked a bit darkly.

The Flash considered, then placed his hand to the detective's shoulder a bit overdramatically, "You're the smart one, you'll figure it out."

Then he quickly moved, punching Heat Wave into the next room over where they began their battle, speed and flames going around in the room. The Question muttered, "Don't get too fried, Speedy." He stood up and went into the other direction.

The room was hardly sparse; to the east side of the wall, the Question saw that the Replicant was set up behind a containment glass with several containers of chemicals set up around it. One the table, he quickly noticed J'onn in his natural Martian form, apparently too weak to stand. The detective recognized Dr. Milo, who quickly became alert of the Question's prescence and turned, fleeing to the front of the hovercraft. Firefly approached from his stance, holding up his flamethrower.

"Nice of you to drop by." Firefly's voice was smugly spoken as he stepped forward to face off with the detective. "But it's time for you to burn."

Flamethrower lifted up and pointing, he pulled the trigger and ignited a stream of fire at the Question; the faceless man ducked down quickly, rolling under the flames. The detective kicked up his heel at Firefly, knocking the flamethrower out of his hand and temporarily disarming him. Question got to his feet swiftly, in time to be rammed in the abdomen by the pyromaniac once he activated his jet, feeling his back slam roughly against the wall.

Though he felt Firefly grab onto his neck - with the intention of strangling him, no doubt - the Question noticed the Martian out of the corner of his eye. J'onn opened his glowing yellow eyes, sitting up quickly with a look of determination. Eyes flaring, he appeared to do a sort of mental attack onto Firefly, since the pyromaniac suddenly howled in pain, reeling back and releasing the Question.

Dropping to the floor onto his feet, the detective turned and quickly approached the psychic. "Able to fly?"

J'onn paled and his eyes dimmed. "No," he whispered.

"Terrific." The Question turned his head sharply, watching Firefly rise to his feet after picking up his flamethrower.

Then, the containment glass that held the Replicant slid open, its eyes opening with a strong white glow. It took a step forward, grabbing onto the Firefly's jetpack and lifting up the pyromaniac, who let out a cry of surprise. The Replicant reached around, taking the flamethrower, and simply paused for a moment before dropping both Firefly and the weapon.

Finding it easier to speak with telepathy rather than with a voice, J'onn 'spoke' to the Question. (What is that?)

"The Replicant. Long story, tell you all about it later, and now we should go." Question placed J'onn's arm around his shoulders quickly.

(Where is the Flash?) J'onn's eyes narrowed a bit. (He is here...)

"Busy," the Question told him.

Which was one way to put it; Heat Wave was suddenly thrown into the room, slamming against Firefly and landing atop the other pyromaniac. The Flash was at the doorway, his arm burned a bit. "J'onn, hey! Are you all right?"

(I am fine. It would be best if we leave, though.)

The Replicant turned and stepped over the bodies of both pyromaniacs, holding up its hands; at its palms, there were openings, and fire began to ignite. There was an annoyed grunt from the Question as he pulled J'onn from the table and ducked behind it; the Flash quickly moved aside as flames filled the space where they had just been.

"I'll take care of the Replicant; get J'onn outta here!" the Flash shouted to the detective, then raced up to the Replicant, landing a solid punch to its face.

The creation made no noise as it was hit and stumbled back, but it turned and backhanded the Flash against the containers of chemicals; one broke open, spilling something black onto the Flash's suit. Though, the Fastest Man hardly paused and started to return blows at a blinding speed; the Replicant, in turn, took hold of Flash by the shoulders and activated the jets on its back that it copied from Firefly, ramming through the roof and taking Flash with it.

(Wally...!) J'onn attempted to stand up on his own, but failed. The Question shook his head and helped the Martian walk.

"Speedy will be fine. Let's find a way out of here," the faceless man told him.

"Leaving so soon, aren't we?"

Turning his head, the Question spotted Volcana walking out of a sliding door, where Dr. Milo had run off to. She folded her arms, grinning. "Don't be shy; I'm dying to spend some quality time with you boys."

* * *

In the air, the Replicant kept its jets activated while the Flash continued to send blows against it in highspeed - though it appeared to be not doing too much damage to the Replicant. The creation tilted its head and held up its hand, preparing its flames to ignite against Flash.

His eyes went wide in a very 'oh crap' expression, then he narrowed them in determination. "Sorry, but I'm not gonna be Kentucky Fried," he muttered. The Fastest Man knew when to think on his feet - or off, at the moment - and reached around the Replicant, slamming his fist against its jets. How organic or how mechanical this thing was, he wasn't sure. Lucky him, he just found out, as they quickly began to plummet towards the city below.

The Flash planted a foot against the Replicant, kicking him away before he slammed his forearm against its head. The Replicant grabbed for the red-suited hero's wrist, reaching out and grabbing onto his chin; its white eyes dimmed, seeming to calculate.

For reasons the Flash wasn't sure he could explain, he thought of random memories - like the time he'd first met Barry, or the time he had that charity race with Superman - and twisted out of the Replicant's grip, staring at it.

"Wally West," it droned to him.

Recalling the Replicant's original design, this was exactly what it had meant to do, or meant to be; it read some of his information through skin contact. The Flash narrowed his eyes and raised his other fist, planting another blow across the Replicant's face.

As they started to get closer to the streets, the Replicant's jets attempted to activate itself, and the pair twisted in the air as they did battle until they crashed through a window of a building that the Flash didn't bother to recognize; he and the Replicant slammed against the floor, and the Flash went tumbling for a moment.

Hearing people cry out in surprise and quickly begin to scatter definitely insinuated this was a building with civilians in it. The Flash groaned and started to his hands and knees until he felt the Replicant slam a firm and possibly metallic foot into his back, causing him to make good friends with the floor once again. Gritting his teeth, the Flash placed on hand against the floor to brace himself, the other swinging around and grabbing the Replicant by the ankle; he threw it off of him and against the floor. Getting to his feet in a matter of a second, the Fastest Man ran up to the Replicant, landing a swift kick into its side and causing it to crash out the window.

The Flash ran up to the broken window, watching the Replicant land roughly into a construction area below - where there were likely several tools it could copy.

"Brilliant, Flash," the red-suited hero groaned to himself before zipping out the window to catch up with the creation.

The young hero dashed across the street and to the construction site, finding the Replicant rising to its feet, holding a drill in one hand and a jackhammer in the other. Turning its head, the Replicant eyed at the Flash, dropping the tools in its hands before turning sharply, holding out its hand and igniting a stream of flames at the hero. The Flash dodged out of the way and ran up at the Replicant, preparing to land another solid blow to the creation; however, it seemed to have expected it.

The silent creation ducked out of the way before slamming its shoulder into the Flash's chest. The Replicant caused him to hit his back against a beam of the construction site, and moved swiftly to plant its hand against his throat to pin him against it.

The Replicant held up the other hand, and it morphed into a larger version of the drill it absorbed, and attempted to stab it into the Flash's head; the red-suited hero grabbed onto the Replicant's arm in time, grunting in strain as he tried to prevent it from drilling out his face.

Gritting his teeth, the Flash kicked up one leg at the arm with the drill, so that it was pointing above his head, and quickly released the Replicant; it drilled right into the beam, getting is arm stuck. Letting of the Flash, the Replicant attempted to yank its arm out - and eventually succeeded, twisting the beam away from the construction, striking the Flash in the midsection with it, letting the beam land onto the ground on top of him.

The Replicant turned and formed the other hand into the jackhammer, but stopped when the construction beams began to tremble and collapse towards both creation and hero.

The Flash cursed something under his breath, managing to shove the beam off of his abdomen. It was likely his ribs were either broken or bruised - he was incapable of telling at the time - and he quickly dashed out of the area as the beams collapsed atop the Replicant.

Flash skidded to a stop, turning around and looking at the collapsed area. He let out a sigh as he heard police sirens in the distance. Good; he had to catch up with the aircraft.

So he turned and prepared to go find it.

* * *

As soon as Volcana had shown herself, the Question had made sure to push J'onn behind the table in order to keep him out of the way - which was luckily just in time, as Volcana created a ball of flames and threw it at the detective. The Question ducked out of the way, but the fireball just managed to ignite a tabletop full of papers.

"What're we going to do?" Volcana inquired, her tone mocking. "I throw some fire, you keep dodging out of the way? Not a very fun game now, is it?"

Question was a little more practical than deciding to converse during a battle; he moved from his spot, circling around Volcana and closing in. While she was one of several superempowered rogues, the Question was simply a human - believe it or not.

A human with martial arts training.

The detective spun around, delivering her a quick and powerful roundhouse kick. It knocked the pyrokinetic away faintly, causing her to stumble. Volcana made a fast recovery, turning and heating up her hands to form a low flame; she struck out at the Question, who ducked out of the way. Volcana ended up burning into the wall behind the detective instead, and said detective attempted to land another sharp kick at her. The fiery woman dodged away, and turned herself so she grabbed onto the Question's shoulders with her burning hands.

There was a quick holler from Question, though he bit off any sound of pain abruptly. Volcana smirked at him. "That is so cute, pretending to be such a big man."

The flames at her hands immediately grew, bursting out and sending the Question across the room; he made impact with the wall and slid down to meet the floor. For a moment, he seemed to go limp - unconsciousness was merely a guess, considering his faceless mask.

That seemed to be satisfactory enough for Volcana; she turned and approached J'onn, who had been sitting against the table. Lifting his head, the Martian met his gaze with the fiery woman, holding almost an inclination of fear in his glowing yellow eyes. She grinned, speaking mockingly, "Aww, don't worry. I'll fry 'im with you when I'm done."

Volcana then felt a blow to her head from a foot. She stumbled away, turning sharply to see the Question. Preparing another fireball, he held up his own weapon:

A fire extinguisher.

Triggering it, Volcana let out a scream of fury when she was covered with the foam; though that didn't seem to be the Question's only intentions. He swung the fire extinguisher, landing another and final blow to her head before she fell unconscious.

Wordlessly, the detective tossed aside the extinguisher and stepped around the table, looking down at the psychic. "All right?" the Question asked, standing as if his chest hadn't been atrociously burned.

"More than you at the moment," J'onn commented quietly.

Question shrugged, as if it hadn't matter and as if shrugging didn't hurt. "How far off is Flash?"

"He is coming." J'onn paused, narrowing his eyes. Then, the aircraft shook and suddenly shifted its weight, as if it was taking a dive. The Martian scowled. "Dr. Milo..."

Not even waiting for J'onn to finish, the Question hurried to the door where Dr. Milo had fled to, where no doubt the pilots were at. Pressing the sliding door open, he stopped when he saw nothing but the outside, wind whipping at his face. Looking up, he saw the front part of the hovercraft flying away without them. Then the rest of the craft was falling quickly down to the city below without either a pilot or an engine to help its flight.

"Perfect," the Question muttered.

* * *

When the Replicant was taken care of significantly - Jerry and others from the lab came to help temporarily shut it down since they weren't sure how to do it permenantally - finding the hovercraft hadn't been so difficult. The Flash found it quickly enough, and began to concentrate on looking for a tall enough building to leap from and catch onto the craft for a second time.

Only, this plan was put on hold when he saw the front of the aircraft suddenly unlatch from the rest of it and begin to fly off.

"Speedy, we could use a bit of help here," the Question grumbled into his comlink.

"Yeah, I noticed that - what about the part that flew off?" the Flash wondered, frowning.

"Forget about it. We got three unconscious pyromaniacs here, the Martian can't fly, and I'm ... having a bit of a hard time moving much to even think about carrying everyone and chancing a jump."

The Flash continued to dash after the falling hovercraft, thinking to himself. "Yeah, okay. I'll figure it out. Flash, out." He turned off his comlink and picked up his speed, hurrying himself until he was ahead of the diving craft.

It was definitely dangerous, doing this in the street like this; even the Fastest Man Alive would get knocked around from a car crash if he couldn't avoid it. Regardless, he turned around so he was running backwards. Lifting up his arms, the Flash started to twirl them at highspeed, enough so that gusts of wind was formed and a small typhoon surrounded that hovercraft. It began its descent to the street much slower, though its speed still suggested it wouldn't be an easy landing.

The aircraft slammed into the street, skidding and throwing sparks. Cars slammed their brakes and twirled in the street, attempting to avoid a collision. The Flash attempted the best he could, still whirrling his arms until the aircraft stopped.

Eventually, it did, and Flash let out a breath of air. That'd been close. He raced over to the aircraft and hopped inside from one of the couple of holes that were made into it already. Question was in a corner of the hovercraft, helping J'onn to his feet; the detective had visible burns on his body, though seemed to be currently ignoring them. Approaching quickly, the Flash held out his arms.

"I'll take J'onn," he offered. "You all right, Question?"

"Had worse," the Question replied stiffly, but didn't hesitate to pass on the Martian. He pressed his comlink. "Wonder Woman, we got the Martian. Might want to send down a Javelin. We're not exactly in top shape, any of us." As soon as the message had gotten through, he turned to the Flash, who was supporting J'onn's weight. "What happened to the Replicant?"

"I kicked its butt," the Flash replied smugly. "Jerry's got the rest handled." Question replied with a noise of either confirmation or 'by the way these burns really sting'; the speedster could not tell.

"I'll round up these three. Go ahead and head outside; a Javelin should be swinging by."

The Flash glanced at the detective, then nodded. "Don't be a moron and push yourself." The Question merely made a noise that somehow managed to scoff at him. Quickly, the speedster helped J'onn outside, ducking behind the craft from the civilians.

"You doing better?" the Flash asked the Martian, in which J'onn smiled wryly.

(I might be asking that of you, Wally.)

"Yeah, well." Flash shrugged. "I'm okay, I guess."

There was a pause before J'onn spoke further. (If you do not mind... I would like to talk with you later.)

The Flash tilted his head, then grinned. "Sure. Cool with me."

(I am glad. ... There is much to say.)

Honestly, Flash would have liked to have asked what he had in mind, but he remained silent and just nodded.

Glancing up, the Flash waited for a sight of the Javelin.

* * *

_Predictably to be continued._

* * *

**Next chapter:** J'onn and Wally talk, and unfortunately the Question eavesdrops. There are conclusions, questions, and loose threads. The Question realizes there is something to be concerned with, even with the Replicant taken care of.

**Notes:**

Again, I would have done a flashback. But it was sucking and boring and you bloodthirsty fellahs probably would have liked the action sequences here. Which were difficult to write, 'cuz things sound cool to me in my head but probably don't have the same impact in text. Regardless, things will be pretty much cleared up in the next chapter, where the Flash and J'onn finally have a chance to talk. Hoohoohoo.

**To my loving audience:**

**Red Tigress:** Kyle's an awesome G.L., and I'm hoping to make many references to the Lanterns. Another one will be mentioned in the next chapter. START MAKING GUESSES.

**Tomboy13:** The Question can be quite stalkerish. I'm probably going to elaborate on this later in the story series I have in mind. I have a sequel in store for 'Onions and Cakes', after all. The Question will be explored... but so will the Flash, because hell, he's too cute to just ignore.

**Dacker Spaniel:** More given! returns cup And more will still be given. I think we've got a chapter left of 'Onions and Cakes' until I work on its sequel that I have in store. Hopefully, you will enjoy that as well. It won't be too much of a mystery story as this has been unraveling to be, but it should be enjoyable all the same. I hope.

**JenniferJ:** No worries, J'onn's been saved. ...You know, for now. Really now, are any of the League safe? cackle

**HawkAngel XD:** Thank you thank you!

Keep up with the reviews! OH HOW I LOVE THEM SO.


	5. In Which It's A Temporary Conclusion

**Disclaimers and Useless/Useful Stuff to Know:**  
Don't own Justice League. Never will. WB and DC got dibs that I don't. Takes place around the first season of JLU, pre-The Return.

* * *

**Onions and Cakes**

by Alba Aulbath

* * *

"Dr. Milo, the Replicant is no longer in our hands. And, ultimately, it failed against the Justice League." 

"To be fair, the Replicant didn't really have a chance to absorb enough material to be considered a threat to the likes of them, especially someone like the Flash."

"...Regardless, Milo, this was a waste of our efforts. The Replicant is gone. Volcana is back in custody. The 'noir' chemicals are gone. The Martian is theirs again, and we will have to silence Pierce Tan. You have made quite the disappointment, not to mention your other efforts..."

There was a smirk in his tone. "The funny thing about the 'noir' chemicals. They're completely active right now, without anyone's realization. The public and the League won't know - at least not until the last minute."

"And you are to say, Dr. Milo...?"

"That we are still capable of using the chemicals to our advantage. We still have a weapon."

* * *

"This'd better be good, Alan."

A sigh. "Look, John, you know I wouldn't be here if it wasn't important. Guy was caught up on the other end of the solar system, so I had to make the message."

"Guy? Isn't he busy...?"

"Yes, exactly. He thinks that Hal might be coming to Earth - or at least, around the area."

"That thing isn't..." Tone was frustrated, then he conceded. "Why does Guy think he's coming around here?"

"Says that Hal is backtracking. He might come back to see Barry."

"He can't. If Flash..."

"That's up to you, John. I know you've gotten fond of him, but you have to remember what we're doing. What all of us are doing - you most of all."

His voice became soft. "Yeah, I know. I'll keep an eye out." Pause. "You really think he's coming here?"

"It's what Guy said. And he's been on this case for years now; you take his word for it, not mine. But if you want an opinion, that's something else."

"And what is your opinion?"

"That the truth might be more important than Guy's case."

Hesitation. "The Guardians..."

"The truth for friendship or to obey the Guardians. It's a tough choice, but you know what I'd choose. But I'm not you."

"...No. You're not, Alan."

* * *

Though typically there were members of the League who were treated in the medbay on and off - ranges of damage varied per person considering vulnerabilities and superpowers, but regardless - the fact that three heroes who were hardly regulars of the medical bay were having to spend a night in it was a bit of a surprise.

And the Flash was being quickly amused as the Question had, about eleven times so far, attempted to talk Diana out of making him remain in the medical facility. She had simply told him no on all ten accounts until the eleventh she said:

"Question, you keep trying to smart-talk me and I'll make you stay _longer_." While she held up a fist.

Even the detective knew better than to aggravate the Amazon much further than that.

While the Question was on a bed in the corner with a laptop, remaining completely silent as if no one else was there, the Flash was seated at the end of the mattress and was speaking with J'onn. Generally, just playing catch-up in regards to the League, what had been occuring. A couple had made him laugh; after all, he almost felt guilty for having missed out on Green Lantern, Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman having been turned into children to face off with the Brat from Hell, otherwise known as Mordred.

Also, the very idea that Diana had been turned into a pig - Flash was real sorry he missed out on that.

Though even the young speedster could tell, gradually, that there was the temptation to speak with one another on a more personal level; J'onn had something to say, and Flash was sure that Pierce must have either told or shown him something. While he wished he had a bit more privacy than that, he couldn't blame either one of them.

But then again, he wasn't too fond of speaking about it with Question no doubt overhearing, even if he already knew quite a bit. Maybe they could have had a mental conversation, but the Flash felt more comfortable speaking outloud.

The whole thought-speak thing with J'onn... well, the red-suited hero knew his mind would wander constantly and was quite fast - maybe too much for the Martian to completely follow and probably give him a killer headache. The Flash would simply have to speak outloud with him.

"So what's up?" Flash took the initiative.

J'onn seemed to hesitate. "...Are you comfortable, speaking now?"

"Hey, don't worry about it." The Flash pointed a thumb over his shoulder towards the detective typing away. "He knows plenty already anyway," he decided. "'Sides, it's important, right?"

"Yes. ... I would... ask that you don't entirely blame Pierce for what happened."

The Flash shook his head. "I don't. I'm pretty sure he was forced into it. I know 'im, I can't blame 'im for what he was forced to do. An' really, it makes me feel better knowing you aren't mad at him."

"I can't." J'onn paused. "...Not after he requested that I read his mind."

Easily, that caused the Flash to pale a bit behind his mask. It wasn't the lack of trust he had for the Martian, but considering his unfortunate background he did prefer to bask in the fact that he could just hide his past from everyone else. Generally, it made it easier to be able to smile it off as if it never happened, most of the time.

"Yeah?" The Fastest Man frowned. "So what'd you see?"

Again, the psychic seemed to hesitate as he glanced in the direction of their resident paranoid detective; the Flash shrugged, in his way of telling him not to worry about it and just say it. That was enough of confirmation for the Martian. "Primarily... Barry's grief, for what happened to Iris. Her unborn child." J'onn frowned, in his silent way of offering his condolences for something that happened a few years ago. "Because of the man that calls himself Cobalt Blue, he attacked both Iris and you. Barry blamed himself. I didn't quite catch why."

"Cobalt Blue was Malcom Thawne. He was Uncle Barry's older brother. I dunno how exactly, but he ended up being adopted by some folks. Guess his life was so crappy he blamed Barry for it." The Flash leaned back a bit where he was seated.

J'onn nodded. "...I also saw something you did not, in regards to Barry." This quickly had the speedster's full attention. "There was something Pierce saw, in which I did. There was a cloaked man who was speaking to Barry before... I believe he was responsible for wiping his memory. But in turn, this wiped Cobalt Blue's memory completely. Perhaps because they are siblings - I do not know. Pierce did not hear very much. A Green Lantern named Guy Gardner had approached Pierce days afterwards, telling him it was a being called the Spectre. Because of his energy signature being a way to be connected to him and therefore allowing him to track Spectre easier, both Cobalt Blue's memory and Barry's memory could not be tampered with."

The Flash remained absolutely silent.

However, there was someone else who intervened the growing silence. "So, that's how the Lanterns are involved," the Question mused. "And why someone like Kyle Rayner wouldn't know anything about it. Even after a few years, he's considered the rookie. The Guardians and other Lanterns wouldn't share a secret like that with him."

"Would G.L. know?" the Flash muttered seethingly.

"Let you think about that, Speedy."

J'onn granted the detective his glance of disapproval before turning his head back to the Flash. "Pierce was forced to keep silent about it. That is why he was incapable of telling you; he was not willing... which is why he worked so hard to find ways to help Barry regardless. ...But there is something else. Barry's memory wipe was... voluntary."

There was immediate denial in Flash's tone. "No," he said sharply. "Why would he do that! I mean... seriously, why would Barry want to forget us? WHY?"

"Maybe he had to, if it'd wipe out Malcom's memory," the Question pointed out helpfully as he typed away at his laptop. "Convenient. If Malcom forgets, then he couldn't attempt to harm the people important to Barry. He forgot everything, which rendered him helpless. Human. Incapable of hurting, and incapable of remembering why he was angry. Barry might not have wanted to forget, but he was willing to do it if it'd save you and Iris."

That might have been the truth, but it wasn't something that Flash wanted to particularly hear from Question.

"But then afterwards... the Green Lanterns insist to keep his memory wiped, if it'd help them track Spectre because of the energy signatures his powers leave behind. Pierce convinces you to separate yourself from both Iris and Barry, legally. Barry, when he regroups himself and knows what he wants to do, decides to become a cop and can no longer be part of Central Labs. Iris only talks to him when she has to, same with Pierce. You check on him every so often when you can. Which is why you had your little vacation." The Question finally turned his head away from the screen. "Right?"

Again, the truth wasn't something he wanted to hear from the likes of him. The Flash just grumbled and wished he had something to eat.

"Personal reguards is something I'll respect to an extent. But don't forget what you dedicate your life to, and the reason why." Question tilted his head.

"What's THAT supposed to mean?"

"Don't spend too much time dwelling, like you have been. Like what everyone else just about does." The detective folded his arms. "After all, it almost cost you a few people. Didn't it."

The Flash glanced at J'onn briefly, then lowered his head, frowning. "So what, no vacations, Smart Guy?"

"No. Just don't forget. The League needs some of its members more than others."

Flash considered that, then raised a brow. It had almost been the Question's crafty way of saying the Justice League really did require the Fastest Man Alive.

Whether or not he thought so.

"That's gotta be the nicest thing you've ever said." Flash smirked faintly.

"I'll let you think so." The Question turned his attention back to his laptop, as if he had said nothing at all during the conversation.

The red-suited hero looked to the Martian; the former shrugged and the latter smiled faintly.

That was satisfactory enough.

* * *

During the night, before sleep was induced, there tended to be thoughts. Sometimes fearful ones that would keep the individual awake for hours before their body shut down for rest. Sometimes angry ones. Sometimes...

Just thoughts.

The Flash had considered what the Question had to say about the Green Lanterns. Maybe he had been a little bit right; they had forced some things to happen. Like his separation from his aunt and uncle, forced to return to living in the orphanage until he was of age to move out and get his own place. Maybe.

Just maybe.

However, he considered; had John just been his friend because he had to watch over him?

He frowned and shook his head. No way; not John.

But he thought about it, back in Central City when the Flash had first been controlled by Grodd to nab the isotopes. He thought about when he had briefly been in custody of Barry and Detective Morillo, and John had been swift to his rescue.

Real swift.

_"Thanks for sticking up for me back there." And Flash felt a sharp pain in the back of his head when he had been smacked by Green Lantern. "OW!"_

_"What were you THINKING?" Flash had assumed Green Lantern meant about the isotopes._

"I wasn't thinking ANYTHING."

_"Obviously," Lantern snorted._

Had it been about Barry, or because of what the Flash had done then under Grodd's control? The Flash couldn't tell now. John bailed him out, but even G.L. said that if the cops wanted to keep him there, they wouldn't have been able to. Aside from relying on the law to back him up, why had John been in such a rush to help him?

Simple. He cared. It had nothing to do with Barry. Zip.

...Really.

No, John wouldn't lie to him. The Flash was sure of that.

...But hell if he didn't feel a little less comfortable with him now.

Sighing, he shut his eyes to sleep.

* * *

Days had gone by. The Flash had announced he was no longer on vacation and was more than happy to return to action in the Justice League, which satisfied several. J'onn had also made a swift recovery and had quietly and quickly gone back to work. It was all well and good. 

Eventually the Question had been allowed to return to his quarters on the account that his wounds had been treated and were healing steadily. Only, it was likely he wouldn't be put out into a mission again anytime soon. Which was fine; he had his own invesigations to pursue.

He had been going over some notes he had managed to snag from the harbor before the explosion. It wasn't much, it was enough to make him feel he was confirmed to think that things were far from over.

It was some form of chemical, in the notes. Specifically, another form of organic compound. Unlike the Replicant, it had some form of ganglia that allowed it to think beyond pure instinct. While it also worked based primarily on celluar memory of a person, it was capable of strength. The notes suggested that Pierce had completed this chemical, but it also seemed to conclude that there was something too dangerous about it. After all, the scientist hadn't used it on Barry.

But it meant that the people behind the completion of the Replicant also likely had the information and access to the chemical. Possibly had it prepared to use against the League, no doubt. While it was fortunate that the Replicant was in custody, possibly of Central Labs now - the Question hadn't checked yet - things were far, far from over.

(Keep on your toes, Speedy.)

* * *

Early morning, he had gone to his mailbox and took the envelopes inside. Junk mail was trashed, bills set aside, and there was an envelope he did not recognize.

Barry Allen set his coffee down to the table, pushing up his glasses as he opened the envelope.

_Who knows Wally West?_ was written.

There was a photograph of a laughing red-haired young man, someone Barry felt he should have known but could not quite remember.

_You do_, the letter teased.

Barry had almost considered tossing away both letter and photograph. It wouldn't do any good. It was significant in a way he didn't know.

He placed the photo on the refridgerator, so it would not be forgotten.

_Barry Allen knows Wally West._

Did he?

_So don't forget next time._

The cop considered a second time, then pocketed the letter for later.

_Vic Sage_ was signed at the bottom.

Barry Allen could only smile helplessly at the photo, unable to laugh back.

* * *

_Predictably concluded._

* * *

**Next:** The Question, Green Arrow, and the Creeper are sent to follow the trail of destruction of someone unknown. The Flash struggles with the lack of trust between friends and allies, and must come to a decision. 

To be seen in the sequel to "Onions and Cakes":

**Running a Marathon on Jupiter**

**Notes:**

A quick conclusion, that hopefully settled some loose ends. Anything that isn't understood here, hopefully, I can explain in some other notes in the upcoming fic. I would like to note for those who know, obviously, about Barry Allen: in this continuity, he wasn't the Flash. Only Wally has been so far, though Barry being a former father figure to him is also significant.

The quick scene in Flash's mind was part of the episode in Justice League. It was "The Brave and the Bold", where whom I consider Barry Allen made his appearance with Detective Morillo. (I call them that, I dunno what Bruce Timm and the others call them by) I highly doubt that the scene was nearly as significant as I made it out to be, but it sure helps with the conspiracies rolling around. Also the fic series is an attempt to help suggest the reasoning why we really don't see John and Flash 'hang out' anymore. Flash makes a quick connection with J'onn in "The Ties That Bind", which may or may not be as significant as I make it out to be. I think it is, though, and it's something to elaborate on the upcoming sequel to "Onions and Cakes".

Also, the brief dialogue with Alan Scott was a request I couldn't possibly refuse. I know little to nothing about him other than he's the original G.L., so I kind of just threw him in there. Tee-hee. Hope that was all right.

**To the loving audience:**

**Dacker Spaniel:** Gawrsh, one of the best JL fics? Makes me blush, it does! Lucky for you, J'onn also makes an important role in the upcoming sequel to "Onions and Cakes", so hopefully you'll enjoy that.

**morring star:** Done and done! SHAZAM.

**HawkAngel XD:** I hope this is still considered great. Glad you were pleased with your review. :D

**Ben:** Alan Scott made his quick appearance in the fic. My intention was for it to be Guy Gardner, but I figured that he could just be mentioned and make a later appearance sometime. After all, I live to please.

**Red Tigress:** The Question is just so damned FUN to write. He's a bit creepy, maybe not quite sane in the head, but he's brilliant in his own right and also witty and sharp. I really like him. He's also not particularly heartless, but I think he keeps people, when it comes to anything personal, arm's length away and doesn't want attachments. He's here to help in his own sneaky ways, even though he doesn't plan on making friends with anyone anytime soon. The Flash-Replicant battle was fun to write, and glad you enjoyed that. I'm sure that if it was animated or something, it'd have been more appealing. :D


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